Another Grocery Trip. Pain Killers.
Jan. 7th, 2024 12:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerAustralia Travelog #34
Leura, NSW - Fri, 29 Dec 2023, 9pm
After dinner this evening we stopped by the grocery store in town again. Our main purpose this time was to buy painkillers. Yeah, my ankle is still killing me after I strained it from hiking down and back up too many canyons on Thursday, then did it no favors as I overdid it again today with several miles of hiking and maybe 1,000 feet of down/up.
Didn't I bring painkillers like ibuprofen and acetaminophen? Oh, I always do. It's just that I've gobbled them all up already and need more to get through the last 48+ hours of this trip. Especially because I want to be active tomorrow, our last full day of the trip, when the weather's supposed to be great (finally! After a week of so much rain!) and there are two outstanding hikes I still want to do.
When it comes to buying over-the-counter painkillers I've read that the huge bottles we can buy in the US are considered crazy and not sold in other countries. Indeed, at the town's grocery store the biggest package of ibuprofen I could buy was 24 pills. Compare that to the US, where at my local Safeway I can buy Advil (brand name) in bottles up to 300 pills and store-brand ibuprofen in packages of up to 500. At Costco I can buy ibuprofen 1,000 at a time. But in Australia, only 24. Foreign doctors on YouTube have mansplained (complete with heavy finger-wagging on camera) it's so I don't kill myself. Thanks, but I learned from a young age not to drink the bottle of pills.
Speaking of drinking the bottle, beer is hard to buy in Australia, too. Oh, there are bars and pubs everywhere. But booze can't be sold at grocery stores. Even ordinary beer and wine can only be sold at specialty liquor stores. Sheesh, these are worse blue laws than just about anywhere in the US. Oh, and because the specialty stores have limited hours you've got to plan ahead if you want to enjoy a drink in the comfort and safety of your own home. I bought a four-pack of some Aussie beer yesterday— planning a midday shopping trip when the stores were actually open— that I'll enjoy a few cans of tonight. To wash down all those ibuprofen. 🤪
Update: We also looked for food for a trail lunch tomorrow at the grocery store. Like our previous visit, there was nothing appropriate. Maybe we'll dine at the BP gas station again tomorrow!
Leura, NSW - Fri, 29 Dec 2023, 9pm
After dinner this evening we stopped by the grocery store in town again. Our main purpose this time was to buy painkillers. Yeah, my ankle is still killing me after I strained it from hiking down and back up too many canyons on Thursday, then did it no favors as I overdid it again today with several miles of hiking and maybe 1,000 feet of down/up.
Didn't I bring painkillers like ibuprofen and acetaminophen? Oh, I always do. It's just that I've gobbled them all up already and need more to get through the last 48+ hours of this trip. Especially because I want to be active tomorrow, our last full day of the trip, when the weather's supposed to be great (finally! After a week of so much rain!) and there are two outstanding hikes I still want to do.
When it comes to buying over-the-counter painkillers I've read that the huge bottles we can buy in the US are considered crazy and not sold in other countries. Indeed, at the town's grocery store the biggest package of ibuprofen I could buy was 24 pills. Compare that to the US, where at my local Safeway I can buy Advil (brand name) in bottles up to 300 pills and store-brand ibuprofen in packages of up to 500. At Costco I can buy ibuprofen 1,000 at a time. But in Australia, only 24. Foreign doctors on YouTube have mansplained (complete with heavy finger-wagging on camera) it's so I don't kill myself. Thanks, but I learned from a young age not to drink the bottle of pills.Speaking of drinking the bottle, beer is hard to buy in Australia, too. Oh, there are bars and pubs everywhere. But booze can't be sold at grocery stores. Even ordinary beer and wine can only be sold at specialty liquor stores. Sheesh, these are worse blue laws than just about anywhere in the US. Oh, and because the specialty stores have limited hours you've got to plan ahead if you want to enjoy a drink in the comfort and safety of your own home. I bought a four-pack of some Aussie beer yesterday— planning a midday shopping trip when the stores were actually open— that I'll enjoy a few cans of tonight. To wash down all those ibuprofen. 🤪
Update: We also looked for food for a trail lunch tomorrow at the grocery store. Like our previous visit, there was nothing appropriate. Maybe we'll dine at the BP gas station again tomorrow!
